Just because it has a bun, “meat”, lettuce and tomatoes on it, doesn’t mean it’s a burger. I just hope I don’t get food poisoning. More to come in my full vacation post
Ps, I missed you too.
Singapore tofu at last!!! #greenveganrestaurant (Taken with instagram)
Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm
I never imagined that as broke as I am this week and as hectic as things are getting, I would have the opportunity to finally dine at Kona Grill (which I’ve been talking about for months). Last night, a nice young gentleman decided to take me to dinner (just a friend…but he totally paid for me so I guess it was a date?). He told me we could go anywhere. Now I had visions of the fanciest places dancing around my head. My first thought was a Brazilian steakhouse but I didn’t wanna be a brat as those places can be pretty pricey. I was browsing mall areas because they usually have good places around. Then I remembered how long I had been wanting to go to Kona Grill but I never had anyone to go with. So it was decided. When we pulled up, it looked pretty crowded. There’s a bar section and a patio area with TVs and such, and it was packed with burly men and scantily clad women cheering on the basketball game. I had a feeling of foreboding at that moment, but something told me to go check how full they were INSIDE as I had no desire to sit outside. They had quite a bit of room on the inside…which momentarily worried me until I realized it was 7pm on a Tuesday night. They seated us immediately at a booth clear on the other side of the restaurant BUT conveniently for my dinner host, within view of one of the TVs playing the game. A waitress approached us and took our drink orders. We both got water. Not only because it saves money (which was my reasoning) but it prevents me from consuming empty calories. I knew I was going to order dessert, and I didn’t want to completely undo my workout. The waitress gave us more than enough time to order. She was very pretty and quite pleasant. I ordered the Korean BBQ chicken which is served with white rice and Pan-Asian Ratatouille. Like most people, I watched and enjoyed the movie Ratatouille, so I pretty much jumped at the chance to try some ESPECIALLY with Asian flavors.
I was informed that my chicken would take about 20 minutes to cook properly since they were grilling it (look at those beautiful grill marks!). The waitress also warned me that it was very spicy, which to me is kind of a joke because I grew up eating scotch bonnets like every day (in my mother’s cooking). I told her to bring it on. To be honest, I enjoyed this dish very much. I expected them to use dark meat for the chicken, but they gave me two breast portions with wing drummettes attached. I was impressed by the look of it. The breast meat was perfectly moist. I always tend to prefer dark meat because you really have to try hard to screw it up. It’s pretty moist naturally. But these breasts were perfect except for one thing. On one of them the skin wasn’t rendered enough, so it was kind of a fatty rubbery layer. I was amazed at how well the components of the dish balanced each other out. Never having had a Ratatouille before, I didn’t know what to expect. It had some veggies I don’t usually eat like eggplant and squash, but the use of fresh herbs (cilantro) in there, sweet onion and tomato plus a sweet acidity I couldn’t identify (I wanna say champagne vinegar or rice vinegar) really surprised me. I’m not sure if I like regular Ratatouille, but I love the pan-Asian kind!
My friend ordered the Salmon. Usually they serve it with shrimp and pork fried rice and a side of vegetables. He gave up eating pork and is not a big fan of shellfish so he substituted mashed potatoes and he got sauteed green beans with shallots as his veggie side.
Of course, I had to try some (even though his entree portion was much smaller in comparison to mine). I’m not a big fan of salmon. That being sad, AMAZING is such an understatement in describing this particular dish. I only had one bite of it but that was all I needed. It was like a culinary cherub sent from God kissed this little piece of salmon. I have never had a piece of fish THIS good in my life, and I’ve had plenty of fish; mostly tilapia (sorry mom…this was better than your tilapia). It was cooked perfectly and had a light sauce I find hard to adequately describe, subtly sweet, smoky, the edges were just crisp enough from the pan sear and the fattiness of the salmon was very slight, not at all overpowering. It didn’t taste fishy at all. That’s usually my problem with salmon. I ALMOST had plate envy, but I was thoroughly enjoying my entree as well, so I was quite happy. I almost snapped a shot of my empty plate, but people were already looking at me funny from the shots I had already taken.
Time for dessert. The waitress came by with the menu and made it a point to mention the seasonal creme brulee: coconut. Well I couldn’t very well refuse after that especially since I had NEVER had creme brulee before and I’d heard nothing but good things.
It certainly didn’t disappoint. Creamy, sweet but not too sweet, just a hint of the coconut despite the mound of toasted shavings on top and the perfectly caramelized brulee which…cracked a little fast for me. Despite my lack of brulee knowledge I expected it to give me a little more resistance before cracking. I guess the brulee was a little thinner than I expected, but it was wonderful. Decadent, but I didn’t feel disgusting after eating it. This $4 “Hoard” (as opposed to share) portion was still bigger than I expected. I liked the fact that the ramekin was square; thought that was a nice touch. The waitress mentioned that they had them in passion fruit and pumpkin pie flavors (summer and fall) as well. I really am tempted to go back specifically to try them.
***Creme Brulee Convo***
Me: You want some?
Friend: No.
Me: come on, it’s good.
Friend: *reluctantly grabs spoon and digs in* …is there egg in there?
Me: *rolling eyes* yea, it’s a custard.
Friend: *makes disgusted face* I can taste it.
Me: No you can’t. Either way, it’s cooked so don’t worry.
*a few minutes go by*
Me: Damnit! I can taste it now too! Mmmm.
The Verdict
I give Kona Grill -2 Bananas. They would have received a perfect score but for two offenses. 1. The shallots in my friends sauteed green beans were completely burnt and the green beans were under-seasoned. 2. The music did not fit the atmosphere. It was like someone just turned on the radio. I’m not even talking about Pandora, like a regular radio. The ambiance was so perfect they needed a nice jazzy mix of music to keep the atmosphere relaxing. I can somewhat understand their choice of music given the sports bar area, but at the same time, I don’t understand why they have one at all. The area we were sitting in was far too upscale to be attached to a sports bar. In my opinion they should pick one direction and stick with it. I mean the sushi bar area has a ginormous tropical fish aquarium display that is absolutely beautiful! The kitchen looks exceptional as well (there’s a clear window from which seated patrons can see into the kitchen slightly). So, -2 bananas. Much better than Brio Tuscan Grille, although based on their respective websites, I expected my verdict to go the opposite way.
Finally made it to kona grill #fancynoms (Taken with instagram)
So the lack of fatty salty goodness that comes from meat has lead me to seek similar substitutions from vegetarian sources. I’ve been gorging on poore brothers’ kettle cooked potato chips and little debbie’s star crunch snacks all weekend. I have a problem. I’m beginning to think that I should have started slow like my brother suggested; give up red meat and then chicken and later fish. So, I’m starting over. Due to recent reports of mad cow, I’ve already given up red meat. I’ll be going back to chicken next week, although I’m pretty sure I’m just about over my desire to consume it. In about 10 days I’ll be heading to Philly where I have a chicken joint on my list of must try places. So this works out perfectly, I have enough time to get chicken out of my system (use up my bulgoki sauce) and in the meantime I’ll be trying vegan recipes, keeping my meat intake light. By august, I should be fully vegan. I’m excited and nervous, but we’ll see how it goes.
After watching “forks over knives”, I realized that dairy is the worst. It causes and aggravates cancer and heart disease. Upon entering my third week of vegetarianism, (I know, I failed to discuss this in full detail, but I assure you it has been hard as %^$&%# quitting meat cold turkey…no pun intended haha!) I’ve realized that I’ve been using dairy and eggs to fill the void that meat left. I haven’t been eating enormous amounts, mind you, just slightly noticeably more than normal. It bothers me a little bit…because, I know that it’s so bad for me, and I also know that I’m hoping to go vegan soon. One thing I’ve noticed that bothers me a lot is the fact that vegan and vegetarian products are so darn expensive. I was just in Target the other day with my mother. The one near my house now has a food center. I was thinking out loud, why does healthy food cost so much, but unhealthy food is so cheap? I was looking, with such longing, at all the stuff that was now out of my reach: chicken pot pie, hamburgers, those little $0.99 microwaveable meals that are so full of preservatives you can probably only pronounce three of the ingredients, and I thought, why am I craving these things? I know they’re bad for me. But that doesn’t change the fact that I want them. Walking through that food section I found myself picking up things I didn’t need. It took me a second to snap out of out. What are the supermarkets doing to us? Does this ever happen to anyone else? Was it ALWAYS like this? I feel kinda dumb for just now noticing the state of things.
I digress. I had nachos yesterday, and I feel like I’m consuming more cheese than I did before, which I feel isn’t AS bad as drinking milk, but…I still feel guilty about it. I think I need to check out more vegan options. They are so expensive, but if I’m going to go full vegan, it cannot be avoided (unless of course, I was planning on going for a raw diet…which I’m not).
I wish things were different…but I guess I can’t change everything.
*sigh*
(Source: google.com)
what is this? looks yummy. I want some.
